Christmas Letter

Season greetings to you all!!

The 2008 year has been a great year with many ups and downs.
I am doing well. I have embarked on a journey to slim down. I have trimmed about 30 pounds. I am working with a personal trainer to accomplish this. We both agree that I have come a long way, but still have a ways to go.
I still teach special education at Cimarron Springs. The last school year was really challenging. I have a class of 25 students with varying disabilities. The straw that broke the camels back was ending up with 7 kindergarten students that had severe needs. I was burnt out with this, so I moved up to a 4th-6th grade special education class. This is the same thing I was doing, but with older kids. As much as I enjoy and miss the little ones, these big kids keep me on my toes. I look forward to this age range for a couple of years.
I took a break from my master’s program. I have about 9 of the required 36 credits. I hope to work on it this summer. I definitely want to be done with it in the next two years.
I was given a great opportunity this year. I assisted in the Arizona Special Olympics Fall Games in October. I was not sure what I was getting into, so I went to Southern California to observe and assist in their Summer Games. I had a great time and will definitely return to assist. In August, the planning stages for the Fall Games began. I was a bit overwhelmed with all the energy of the people that have done this before, but things progressed smoothly. The games were successful and I enjoyed them. I hope to continue participating in this adventure.
My dogs are doing great. Beau was diagnosed with Valley Fever last Christmas. He has been battling it since. He takes medicine for it. The way that the vet figures this out is a tiger count. (I am not sure that is the right word, but that is what I sounds like.) He tiger count has not changed in the past 6 months, but the vet says that it is normal to see no change for a year to two years. As long as the tiger count does not get worse, we are okay. It is not contagious, so I am not worried about the girls. He does not seem phased by it, so I just keep my eyes on him. If things get worse, then I take him to the vet.
Roary is doing good. She is molting yet again, but what should I expect from a snow dog in Arizona? She turns 7 in February. The vet says that she is coming to her middle age. That is somewhat funny to think that she is middle aged. She sure does not know it.
Schein’nnee is doing well. She gets shaved monthly because her coat is so think. This is something that I am doing because it is cheaper then taking her to the groomers. She sits for about 45 minutes, then gets antsy. So this process takes a couple of days to complete. It is quite funny to see the progress. Some days she is my half shaved dog. She continues to be my most territorial dog and huffs or barks at everything or everyone that she sees or hears. Quite bothersome, but funny to hear. She huffs or barks, I yell, “Schien’nnee, shut up!”
That is about all that is going on here. I have a blog that I am trying to keep up to date. It is www.shessieszoo.blogspot.com.

Enjoy the season!

Love,
Jessica, Beau, Schein’nnee, and Roary

Life at the Zoo

We are all doing great right now. Beau still is fighting Valley Fever. He went to the Vet and got a blood test. All the numbers are good. The Valley Fever number (the Tiger count...we think) is the same, which was expected. It may be a long time before he is completely cured but he is doing well.
Roary is doing good, except that it is really hot here in Arizona. She has molted once or twice since the spring. She is in good health. She went to the Vet as well and all her blood counts are good. She spends a lot of time laying around and telling the Zookeeper things, like when to go to bed or when she is hungry.
Schein'nnee is doing great. Her fur has grown out a lot and should be cut again. The Zookeeper is going to get someone to come help with more razors so that it will be done completely. She went to the Vet with Roary and is in great health.
The Zookeeper is going back to school. She has spent a lot of time away and looks forward to being at school and working a set schedule. The pool season is rounding down so she is not home much. But she loves us and makes sure that we get attention.

So, the Zookeeper decided that I needed a haircut. But I have really think hair. So she shaved me, then cut the rest. Didn't she do a great job getting it even? The Shaver got to hot to finish so I got to run around like this for a couple of weeks. Then the Zookeeper tried again, but I didn't want to get hair cut, so I didn't cooperate. Now I look even funnier. I have a wide band of fur around my ribcage. The Zookeeper says that she is going to try again, but I think that I want to give her some trouble. I kind of like the new 'do. We will see...

The New Pharmacy

I have been wroking with the Vet and the Pharmacy to get Beau's medicine. Things are now set up. I am getting a 3 month supply for around $90. Beau will have to be seen by the vet in 6 months and have his blood tested again.

Beau's Valley Fever

I have had a few requests for information on Valley Fever. Basically, it is a fungus that lives in the soil here in the Southwest. When it rains a lot, the fungus will grow and create spores. Then it dries and the spores disperse. Any creature that breaths with lungs can breathe in the spores, which then get into the blood stream. In the bloodstream, in grows and infects the individual with Valley Fever.

Evidently, to diagnosis this, the doctor has to dilute the blood sample to determine how strong the Valley Fever. The more that the blood has to be diluted, the stronger the infection. Beau's number in 1:8, which means that the blood needed to be diluted four times before the fungus was not present. If he was a 1:64, that would be twice as bad. The counting is similar to half-lives of radioactive materials.

A co-worker was telling me that her big dog had Valley Fever. She spent 8 months trying to convince her Vet to test for it. Her dogs number was 1:32. So they are worse off then Beau. I told her about the medicine and how much it cost. She suggested a difference pharmacy that provides the medicine at a much more affordable price...and they deliver...and they sent a toy with the medicine. I am currently working on getting this set up.

So all in all, Beau is doing better. The bump comes and goes, but the valley fever is under control. We are going to keep up the medicine and keep an eye on him. Hopefully, this will be a short time to solve, but I understand that it may be a long time.

Beau

As some of you may know, Beau was diagnosed with Valley Fever in December. This is how it came about. A couple of months ago, Beau had a bump on his cheek, below his eye but on the upper jaw. He also was not walking on one of his legs. I thought that maybe he pulled a muscle and that the bump would go away.

Ha! That's funny!

Then about a month later, Beau had a bump and was limping again. So, I took him to school for a reading therapy day and to show him to his Nana, my mother. She said, "Take him to the Vet."

So to the Vets we go. After a lot of probing and testing, he has Valley Fever and the bump is not related. He got meds for the bump and the apparent pain. The bump went away in a couple of days. He is doing great, but needs to be on medicine forever...

Check out the picture of his bump. This was taken January 1st. The bumps on his right side.

Good news is: After two days of Asprin, the bump is decreasing!